Bonds
by LeadYouIn
Summary: Team 7 friendship one shot. Kakashi's reflections as he looks back on their final battle.


Bonds

The rain, they were all waiting for the rain. All the clouds were black and ominous, threatening to unleash torrent upon torrent of pent up misery. Even the sky wanted to cry with the village today.

Kakashi sat up slowly in bed, still clutching a worn photograph close to his heart. He just sat there for a few minutes, digesting everything that had taken place only a day before, but, to him, it felt like an eternity. _Damn it! Why them? Why now? _Subconsciously he clenched the photograph even tighter to his chest.

_Naruto, you were supposed to become the strongest Kage in history. You were supposed to prove all those people wrong about who you are. Now you can't do any of that._

_Sasuke, you were supposed to restore your clan to its original state. Then you would get your revenge. You were supposed to become stronger with your teammates. They would be the source of your power. Now you can't do any of that._

_Sakura, you were supposed to become the best medical shinobi in our history. You were supposed to learn all you could from Tsunade-sama and then become stronger than anyone had every dreamed. Now you can't do any of that._

OoOoOoOoOoO

"DIE DOBE!" Sasuke leapt at Naruto from the top of a cliff, his ultimate technique, the Chidori, fully powered.

"GO TO HELL SASUKE-TEME!" screamed Naruto, his fury emanating from every inch of his body. He jumped at Sasuke, aiming the Rasengan at his former best friend's heart.

"NO! STOP IT YOU TWO! YOU'LL KILL EACH OTHER!" Sakura screamed throughout their fight, over and over again, but her pleas fell on deaf ears. In a last attempt to stop her closest friends from killing each other she ran headlong into their fatal attacks.

OoOoOoOoOoO

_By the time I got to them it was too late. Sakura was fading away in Sasuke's arms. The Chidori had pierced her stomach and the Rasengan had hit her back, directly behind her heart. She wouldn't have had a chance even if Tsunade-sama had been there beside her. _

_Both of them had dangerous auras emitting from them auras that seemed to overwhelm their true selves. But at the same time, they weren't overwhelmed. It seemed that they knew it was the end, their end. They looked so focused, the sheer power of their rage driving them. _

_They looked straight at each other for a few minutes before they nodded, a twisted sort of apology, though they both knew that none was necessary. Then they turned to run in opposite directions. Naruto ran straight at Orochimaru while Sasuke turned to Akatsuki. _

_Sakura looked at me from the tree she was leaning against. Although the pain was overwhelming her, she smiled at me, the brightest smile I have ever seen. "Don't worry sensei, they'll be back." Her face contorted and her upper body writhed as she coughed up a disturbing amount of blood. "We were always good at leaving, ne? But…………………that never stopped us from coming back." She relaxed as she said this, simply tilting her head back and telling me to go off and fight for as long as I could. That was the last time I saw her alive._

OoOoOoOoOoO

_The battle raged on for hours before any gain or loss in our positions was noted. Naruto had finally gotten to Orochimaru and even with the Kyuubi's healing power he was bleeding profusely from his head and torso. _

_He screamed bloody murder at him for stealing his best friend and for stealing so many of the people he loved. He ignored Tsunade's and Jiraiya's pleas for him to stop. He ran straight at Orochimaru and killed him instantly with the Rasengan, using his last reserves of chakra in the process. But instead of simply laying there, waiting for a medic-nin to heal his numerous wounds, he crawled along, on all fours, to the clearing where Sakura sat. _

_He too leaned against the tree, grasped Sakura's left hand and said "Don't worry Sakura-chan. He's coming." With that he smiled slightly and closed his eyes for the last time, unaware that Sakura had not heard a word he had said._

OoOoOoOoOoO

_Sasuke reached his brother long before any other Konoha shinobi did. Their epic battle lasted for a mere hour, much too short for the demise of one of Konoha's most ancient and noble clans. Both were already exhausted by the time their fight started, but Sasuke's rage gave him all the energy he needed. Eight years of hate, rage, lonliness, confusion, and, most surprisingly, love was unleashed upon the unsuspecting Itachi. The greatest genius in the history of the Uchiha didn't have a prayer. _

_Only after Itachi had died did he give into his grief. He sat there and wept for the life he had wasted for this, the love he had turned down for this, the bonds he had tried to break for this. _

_His life's goal complete he dragged himself back to the clearing and leaned against the tree, grabbing Sakura's right hand and Naruto's left one. _

"_You were right" he said quietly, while tears poured down his face. "That didn't make me happy. Thinking about him, hating him, leaving everything good for him didn't make me happy. But," he grimaced as he noticed the blood flowing from the open wound on his chest, "you two always did. Thank-you." _

_With those words he too closed his eyes, the smallest of smiles on his lips. He would never open them again._

OoOoOoOoOoO

_When I found them I stared in disbelief. They were covered in blood, whether if was theirs or their enemies I couldn't tell. I ran to them, screaming their names, begging them to wake up. _

_I longed to hear Naruto and Sakura screaming at me while Sasuke smirked at my antics. I longed to see Sakura's entire countenance light up when she saw Sasuke. I longed to hear Naruto's shrieks of joy whenever we would go out to eat ramen together. I longed to watch Sasuke look out for his teammates and friends whenever we were on a mission, subconsciously protecting them from anything that could harm them._

_The remnant of our forces gathered around the tree, silently honouring the three who sat there. They knew without their sacrifices the battles wouldn't have been won. If Sakura hadn't been selfless enough to jump in the way, Sasuke and Naruto wouldn't have realized that they were the still the best and truest of friends. If Naruto hadn't killed Orochimaru, he would have found a new container, new minions, and a new way in which to destroy our happiness. If Sasuke hadn't defeated Itachi and the rest of the Akatsuki the villages would have remained in a state of perpetual terror, knowing that they would be helpless if ever they were attacked._

_So, we just stood there, watching them sit and smile, looking so peaceful and happy among the scenes of chaos and pain ensuing around them. _

OoOoOoOoOoO

The funeral had been long and very tiring. Every person in the village, and the entire country had turned up to honour them.

Long speeches, listing their accomplishments were given. Their hitai-ates were framed and mounted in the Hokage's office to remind all those who were to lead us of this painful past. But, the most heart-wrenching to watch was the goodbyes from their friends, the remainder of the Rookie Nine and Gai's team.

The lined up, each holding gifts to place in the open coffins, paying their final respects to their friends and comrades.

Neji walked up first and placed a gleaming new hitai-ate in each of their coffins. "I just thought that you'd always want people to remember where you're from," was all that he said before walking to the back of the hall.

Tenten followed, her eyes overflowing with tears as she placed kunais, each engraved with the kanji for their three names, inside the coffins. She couldn't say anything so she turned and ran after Neji.

Lee too was crying. He placed fresh Sakura blossoms in each of the coffins. "Sakura-chan, I'll always love you. But your in a better place now, and I know you're happy there, with them. I hope that when I see you, you'll still give me a chance." He shuffled out, following his teammates.

Chouji brought up three bags of chips, claiming that they would be hungry wherever they were.

Shikamaru gave them each shougi boards, so they wouldn't be bored.

Shino brought three of his most prized bugs, giving them each one to help protect them.

Kiba simply placed a small folded note in each one's palms. "If anyone ever dares forget what you did for all of us, that'll tell them." He said simply before following Shino.

Ino and Hinata came up together, both sobbing hysterically. Ino held a beautiful bouquet of flowers in one hand and a small fan, engraved with the Uchiha clan's symbol in the other. Hinata carried a small stuffed fox in her left hand and a container of instant ramen in the other.

"I-I'll n-n-never understand why you did what you did," sobbed Ino, "but you'll always be my best friend. You truly did bloom into a beautiful flower Sakura, far more beautiful than these ones." With that she placed the bouquet into Sakura's other arm.

"Sasuke-kun, you never understood how much she loved you and now, you never will. None of us understand why you left, except for the two people lying next to you, but we know that you made your clan proud in the end." She gently lifted up with arm and placed the fan over his heart. "Your clan always was the most important to you."

Hinata stood before the final coffin, trembling. She smiled weakly before approaching it. "Thank-you for making me stronger Naruto-kun. You showed me what it means to have real strength and I love you so much for it, I always will. Aishteru." She bent over his form and placed a chaste kiss on his lips. With that she dropped the ramen and the fox into the coffin and turned away.

Now, it was my turn. I had to go up and confess that I'd failed them, all of them. Despite my vows never to do so again I had let them all down. I couldn't protect the ones that I cared about most. So, I turned and disappeared from sight.

OoOoOoOoOoO

I didn't really know where I was going until I reached it. I was at the bridge. The bridge where we always met, where we had bonded, where we had realized that we were a team. I sat down on the bridge's edge, suddenly unable to restrain my emotions anymore.

I didn't want to remember how they had died. I didn't even want to remember why they had died, and I knew that they didn't want me to remember that either. So I turned my memories to the times when we had laughed together, trained together, and just been together.

The emotions that had been welling inside me since yesterday finally spilled over. I cried for how I'd failed them, I cried for their friends and family, I cried for the times we'd never have, and the sky cried with me.

The rain poured over Konoha, literally flooding the streets, but I didn't move. I simply cried until I had nothing left in me.

I sat there for hours letting the rain drench me until it stopped. The sun came out and the world became bright. I knew that they wouldn't want me to be unhappy, even so I couldn't handle taking another genin team. Nothing would ever take their places. I imagined what they would be doing if they could see me now.

Naruto would have an ear-to-ear grin on his face, telling me to buck up, if he ever noticed that I was upset in the first place. I had to smile at this.

Sakura would have on a worried look, telling me I was too emotionally involved in the Icha Icha series. Then she'd try and grab all the books I had on me, only to result in her being tied up in a tree.

Sasuke would simply look at me when he thought I wasn't looking, trying to hide his concern behind the mask of indifference that he always wore.

They would call me stupid for dwelling on this. They'd tell me that I couldn't sit and mope around forever. They'd rather buy me a new hentai book than watch me mope.

I stood up and walked back to the funeral. The Rookie Nine had gathered under a large oak tree, all of them were talking quietly until they noticed me. Ino ran over to me "Kakashi-sensei, we were about to go get some ramen and we were wondering if you wanted to come with us." She said, looking up at me hopefully.

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly before looking back at her, "That's alright. They were your friends, I don't belong with out."

Shikamaru walked over to us slowly before saying, "As troublesome as it may be, they would have wanted you there with us. You were their friend too"

I looked down at the hopeful chuunins and jounins in front of me before silently nodding. As we started walking I decided that we had a special bond that time would never break, it would never even fray the strings that connected us. I had always told them to do everything as a team, because their lives depended on it. I had made them sleep together, eat from the same bowl, use the same attacks, and so on. The irony of them dying together was almost funny.

I could almost hear Naruto yelling for me to hurry up so he could eat. Sakura would sit beside him and whap him on the head for yelling in her ear. Sasuke would simply roll his eyes and smirk at their antics.

My healing had to start somewhere. I knew that I had to learn to live without them. So after we finished reminiscing about them and eating out ramen I walked back to my apartment with new determination.

I grabbed the photograph of them that had been taken on our first day together. This was how I would remember them, this is how I would live. Our bonds were too strong to be broken.


End file.
